Pietersen Waits to Step Up As Vaughan Takes Leave in Tears

Kevin Pietersen can expect to be named England captain today after the emotional resignation of Michael Vaughan yesterday. Pietersen, 28, is the only viable option for the selectors and his choice will be runner-stamped by Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, which wants a single captain to unify the Test, 50-over and 20-over sides.

Alastair Cook, who is considered by many people to be a future captain, is too young at 23 and Andrew Strauss, though he made an ultimately successful return to the side in New Zealand in the winter, is still not the player he once was and may soon be fighting for his place. Robert Key fails on the same criterion - he is considered a good captain and is a popular leader of Kent but no one is certain whether he is quite good enough at Test level. A spokesman for the bookmaker William Hill said last night: "It's a done deal. It's Kevin Pietersen. We're not even accepting any bets for him. If we did they'd be about 1-100."

English cricket's national performance center at Loughborough has never seen a performance like yesterday's. It was an emotional and deeply moving farewell from a palpably decent man. Sitting only 20 yards from a poster of himself kissing the Ashes urn he had so memorably won in 2005, he paused a few times in his resignation announcement to fight back the tears that welled within him.

Vaughan, the most successful Test captain England have had with 26 victories in his 51 matches in charge, said: "It's the hardest decision I've ever had to make, but also the easiest. It's a job I've loved for five years and I've put my heart and soul into it. My mind told me to pack it in and I just felt if I kept going my career could come to an abrupt end. Hopefully this decision will prolong my career."

It was after he had thanked the players, the support staff and the Professional Cricketers' Association that he became particularly emotional and a spokesman from the ECB almost intervened.

"Last and not least I want to thank my family," he said as tears welled up. "They've been my rock," he stammered, then broke off again as he wiped his eyes. "I spoke to my dad this morning and he said: 'You can walk away a proud lad because you've given everything and that is all I ever asked you to do.' Now I'm back in the ranks of the other players and I need to score runs to get back in the team."

Vaughan, 33, became the 74th captain of England when Nasser Hussain resigned in 2003 - another South African summer. For some time now he has been troubled by poor form. He went into last week's Test against South Africa knowing his reputation was on the line after averaging only 29 in 19 innings since last summer. His average in this calendar year has been lower than that. He has scored only 40 runs in the current series, which South Africa clinched on Saturday evening.

But he was also struggling in a more subtle sense. There is a feeling that he had lost the dressing room or at least parts of it. Players no longer responded to him as they once had and in the past year England have beaten only a weak New Zealand team at Test level. They have lost series at home to India and South Africa and away to Sri Lanka and have not won a single Test against any of them.

"I've not been scoring runs and that is because my mind hasn't been fresh. There have been plenty of distractions, as is the case with the captaincy. Over five years it's taken its toll." But the coach, Peter Moores, cannot escape blame either. If England's poor form continues it will be he, and not the new captain, who will be next to go.

England can count themselves careless because they lost two captains in one go, as Paul Collingwood gave up the one-day job. "It is a total coincidence. I made up my mind on Thursday," he said. But he is Vaughan's best friend in cricket and it is almost inconceivable that this shrewd cricketer did not know which way the wind was blowing and that England wanted to combine the captaincies. The wind was blowing in Pietersen's direction.

The Yorkshire captain, Darren Gough, said last night: "I'm disappointed for Michael because he's been an excellent captain of his country and, like Paul Collingwood, he was probably one innings away from resurrecting his form.

"I think the pressure from outside built up. But he was well respected by all the players and I think he should have waited until after [this winter's tour of] India."

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire's Director of Professional Cricket, said: "I'm disappointed for him because I know how much it means to him. But I don't think his international career is over by any means.

"He may not have scored that many runs this season but his quality has been very evident. I hope he can clear his head, come back and get loads of runs. He's got to have that desire to get back, though."